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The Great Rift: Is Africa finally coming together for real estate investors?

by James Buckley

As home to some of the world’s fastest-growing city economies, Africa, with its rapid rates of urbanization and burgeoning middle classes, is now firmly on the radar of an ever-growing list of multinational corporations, hotel operators and property investors.

Sustained economic growth, favorable demographics and increased investment from domestic and international companies are fueling accelerating demand for high-quality office and retail stock, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), much of which remains severely undersupplied with high-quality commercial real estate. The region’s economy has doubled over the past 15 years, driven not only by commodities, resources and more stable governance but, increasingly, by growth in financial and business services and in consumer spending.

POTENTIAL RECOGNIZED

According to JLL’s latest Emerging Beyond the Frontier report, it is the only region to have substanti